12 Days Ultimate Tanzania Safari Adventure

Upon arrival at Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere International Airport, you will be picked up by our representative who will transfer you to your Hotel in Dar Es Salaam for overnight stay on Bed and Breakfast basis.

After breakfast, pick up from your hotel and proceed to Selous Game Reserve with picnic lunch, Late afternoon, boat safari along the mighty Rufiji River, Dinner and overnight at your Camp (B, L, D).

You will discover the Rufiji River by boat, encounter hippos and crocodiles in good numbers. Some 350 bird species have been recorded in the Selous Game Reserve. These are typical of miombo woodlands, and the bird life supported by Rufiji swamplands is of particular interest.

You will have full day in the Selous Game Reserve exploration of the Reserve by 4 wheel drive vehicle. Dinner and overnight at your Camp (B, L, D).

The Selous Game Reserve is the largest in Africa, covering 54,600 square kilometer. The reserve gets its name from the hunter and explorer Frederick Courtney Selous. He was killed here during World War. Selous is famous for elephants. Other species commonly seen are lions, wild dogs, buffaloes, bushbuck, impalas, elands, baboons, zebras and greater kudus. It was originally set aside as a hunting area where animals are abundant but shier than the Northern Parks. Excursions by 4×4 vehicle will permit you to have good photographic opportunities and the chance to explore different sections of vast park.

After early breakfast, another day in the Selous Game Reserve. You will start with early morning walking safari, followed by game drive with your picnic lunch. Dinner and overnight at your Camp (B, L, D).

Walking safari will give you a particularly intimate feel for the African wilds. It starts in the morning with a guidance of an armed ranger, takes 2 hours before you meet the driver at the reserve gate. Walking safaris offer a good chance of seeing giraffe, zebra, elephant, and good birding.

After breakfast return to Dar es Salaam with picnic lunch in good time to connect flight to Arusha. On arrival you will be met with our taxi driver then transfer to your Lodge/Hotel for dinner and overnight. (B, L, D).

Today is your day at leisure where you will have a full day relaxing at your hotel in Arusha waiting for the next day of your safari where you will explore the northern circuit of Tanzania National Park. Upon your interest you will have time to visit the Arusha city together with experiencing the taste of local lunch. Evening at leisure, dinner and overnight stay at your hotel/Lodge

After breakfast, your safari guide will pick you from your lodge to proceed to Tarangire National Park. With a game viewing area that is roughly ten times the size of nearby Manyara, the park is most famous for its elephant migration, birding and quiet authentic safari atmosphere in a unique surrounding of baobab trees. We will enjoy a game drive exploring the park. Lunch will be taken in a picnic site overlooking the Tarangire River. In the early evening we proceed to karatu for dinner and overnight at your Lodge/Hotel. (B, L, D)

Today we continue our journey west and north, to our exciting destination being a name familiar to everyone – the Great Serengeti. In the Maasai language, "serenget" means "endless plain". The park stretches for over 15,000 square kilometers. Serengeti National Park is quite simply the most magnificent wildlife sanctuary in the world— unparalleled in natural beauty and wilderness. From vast, open plains casting idyllic, golden sunsets, to steamy riverbanks and towers of granite boulders, the Serengeti throbs with life in the endless rhythms of the animals.

We head to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species. We arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive exploring the wildlife of Serengeti. With its wide-open spaces, bright blue skies and creature-filled landscape, over the next two days we will discover why the fabled Serengeti typifies the dream of “Old Africa.” Large prides of lions laze in the long grasses; plentiful families of elephants feed on acacia bark and trumpet to each other across the plains, while giraffes, gazelles, monkeys, eland and the whole range of African wildlife present themselves in awe-inspiring numbers.

At sunset we will proceed to your Camp in the heart of this famous Seronera Valley. Arrival for dinner and overnight stay (B, L, D)

Waking up in the Serengeti is something really special. Sights, sounds and smells of Africa are all around us, and ahead is a full day of adventure in the world’s most famous national park.

After breakfast, we will have a full day game drive in various areas of the park. The Serengeti eco-system is home to the "big five" (lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, rhinoceros). The other main species include giraffe, zebra, antelope, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelle, hippopotamus, crocodiles and in season the spectacular migration of the wildebeest. Everywhere there are animals, vervet monkeys, olive baboons and a great variety of birds—with a total of 505 species being documented so far. But look closely and you will thrill to the huge jungle cats—lion, leopard and cheetah—just watching the world go by. And go by it does. Animals in the trees, on the wing, camouflaged in the bush, in rivers and in stream. The adventure of a lifetime!

We will have a break for picnic lunch in the bush. At sunset, we return to your Camp. Dinner will be served at your camp followed by a good night rest. (B, L, D)

Possibility for optional activity (quoted separately): Balloon Safari over the Serengeti plains The Balloon Safari adventure starts early morning at about 5h00 am when you depart your lodge. It is still dark and you may be fortunate to see nocturnal animals on the way to the Launching site. When you arrive, you will meet your pilot and witness your balloon being inflated and prepared for launch. After a thorough safety briefing and demonstration of boarding and landing position you board your balloon and lift off! Rising as the sun rises your balloon floats in whatever direction the winds of the day are heading over this wonderful area. Your pilot will use varying altitudes and layers of air to navigate the balloon over this amazing area spotting the wild animals and enjoying the view around. We aim to fly for about an hour, depending on conditions. After landing, you celebrate in the traditional way with a champagne toast before heading off to a special breakfast in the bush under an acacia tree.

At sunrise we depart Serengeti and proceed to Ngorongoro Conservation area enjoying the unwinding scenery along the way. Upon arrival and after the gate procedures, we drive down to the crater floor for wildlife game.

With its abundant water, excellent grazing and natural protection from the densely vegetated crater walls, the crater provides shelter to over 25000 animals, including the endangered Black Rhinoceros. The crater and surrounding highlands are one of Africa's most beautiful regions, with volcanic craters forming stunning backdrops to some of the richest grazing grounds in Africa. With 600 metre high walls and a rich volcanic floor covering 260km2, the crater is the world's largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera, a crater formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago. It is estimated that the height of the original volcano ranged between 4,500 to 5,800 metres high.

Lunch will be taken in a picnic site inside the crater. In the afternoon we ascend the crater and drive to Karatu town for Leisure time, dinner and overnight. (B, L, D)

After breakfast, our driver guide will pick you from your Hotel/Lodge with packed lunch boxes and drive directly to Lake Manyara National Park for game drive.

The national park of Lake Manyara has a lovely environment; entering its main gate you pass through a lush evergreen forest created by groundwater that comes from the Ngorongoro Highlands. As you drive further on, you pass through dense acacia woodland offering an opportunity to watch impressive tusked elephants and big families of baboons. Around the lake there is a grassy floodplain dotted with large herds of buffalo, zebras, wildebeest and giraffes. Lake Manyara is also one of the finest parks for bird-lovers - more than 380 species have been recorded - including pink-hued flamingos on their perpetual migration, as well as other large water birds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks. Abundant hippos bathe in the waters. The forest is a good home for leopard, whilst Manyara's lions are famous for their tree-climbing behaviour (though not easy to be seen).

Break for lunch in a picnic site. In the afternoon we proceed to Arusha with optional visit to Masai Boma in Mto wa Mbu Area, check in at your selected Hotel/Lodge, evening at leisure waiting for dinner and overnight stay. (B.L.D)

After a leisurely breakfast your driver will transfer you to Arusha or Kilimanjaro International Airport for your connection flight to Zanzibar or back home.